Thread guide and needle clamping member for sewing machines



Dec. 22, 1953 e.- c. SPORNEY 2,663,274

THREAD GUIDE AND NEEDLE CLAMPING MEMBER FOR SEWING MACHINES Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 28. 1950 Dec. 22, 1953 e. c. SPORNEY ,6 3,

THREAD GUIDE AND NEEDLE CLAMPING MEMBER FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 28. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @jorgq ciaar zey the guide;

Patented Dec. 22; 1953 TIIR'EHD GUIDEfAND YNEEDEEX MEMBER FOR-f SEWING?- George; Sp orney (-Lhicagp, IlI'. assignon to: Birtman Electric Company, a. cornoration. of."

Illinois.

Application Feliruary 28, lll'fiflilserialiNot-fififlflf 3 Claims (01; 112"-226)l This invention: relates and. particularly to) a thread; guidez and: needle clamping; member. for" the; reoip'rocahle": needle bar.

In. the. ordinary.- sewing machine? there: is customarily provided; a. reciprocable; needle: barf moviably. heldin-the head: oftthe; sewing-3 machine; with this needle bar having; an opening ins. its; lower end; for removably: receiving; a: needl'ez. Meanszare provided on. this bar fort-clamping"; their needle in place. and: there: is also provided thread: guide forguiding the thread. in: the; reachebetween: the

thread tensioner and; the eye'ofi the: needle As. can bereadily. understoodzrthe available: space: at

the lower end of. the; needle? ban is. somewhat limitedas: theremust. be: no= obstruction to the view of, thesewing machine operator: and: there mustbe little: projection; ot the parts: from the needle bar so as: to prevent; these: parts striking the hand of the operator. Itlis': also: necessary that. the thread guide be: readily. removableso thattangledzfibers-of threadi canbeiremovedfrom The. needle clamping: member must alsobe easily and quickly accessible so as to permit. cha-ngingthe needles.

In; the present; invention. I have provided a removable thread: guide together with. a single clamping member: serving: the dual function of holding; the thread; guide in. place: and clamping thaneedle in its needle: barqopening; By: employ ing such a combination, the parts: at the lower end. of. the; needle: banma-yr be: kept small to avoid ohstructingthe View and avoid striking the hand of; the; operator;. and; the thread: guide is readily removable for clearing it of thread fib'era The thread guide and dual function clamping member forms: a. compactaunit that positively locks the needle and thread guide in place but permits ready.- removal; oi. either or both. the: preferred construction, the clamping member which clamps the needle impilace; and holds the thread guide isremovable from the. end of the needlebar. Thus. the clamping member,. needle and thread guide. can be easily removed; for. cleaning; yet whenthey are in place they are: firmly heId on the needle bar and form a compact unit occupying a minimum of space.

In the structure of this invention the reciprocable needle bar is provided with an opening at the lower, end thereof for receiving a needle and a transverse opening communicating with this needle opening. A removable clamping member is slidably mounted on this needle bar, with this clamp having a portion extending through this transverse opening for holding the needle in posito: a sewing machine.

tion. With this arrangementithe needleaisr post.- tively; locked: initsrposition but; both: can be: easily removed from theabarz- Aremovable thread; guide is provided; art the lower end? ofthe: needle; bar andthe removable; clamping; member: may be so positioned'to holdthaguideiin itsrproper location. In. the preferred: construction; the removable thread; guide istheldzine an: annular groove. located adjacent: the-= lower: endrofi the; needle bar; The portion of the bar between, the: needle opening and the; bottom. at the:- groove; is? preferably depressed. at. one; point so: that. the" needle opening willreceive: substantially one:- position only a needle having; aflat; side.- When; the: needle, thread.- guideand: clamping member" are; in? place the.- threadguide: includes aportion: held; in the groove and-a. portion: extendingybeyond the end of; the needlebar; while; the:- clamping; member completely covers: thergrooves to hold; the: thread guide; in. position.

The invention will be describedi asv related: to the.- embodiments: shown; in: the! accompanying drawings. @fithedrawings: Eigzl" is:a-.side.eleva.- tion. of=- a. sewing; machine; embodying. the invention; Fig 2-1 is aifragmentary end: elevation there'- taken from thellef'tlhflnd'isid of'Fi'g; 1;: Fig; 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical. section through the.- lower' end. of the: needle bar of the sewingmachine: of. Figs; 1'. and; -2;: Fig.4; is aside elevationof.thestructure' Offliig. 3 taken. from the left hand side; thereof; witlr a. portion. broken away for." clarity of. illustration; and? Fig: 5. is. a bottom view of: the; structure; of Fig: 3 with. the needle being; shown in: cross. section.

The sewing; machine; shown, in the. accompanying: drawings comprises the usual base- I i]; standard; I |r,,- overhanging: arm: 1:23 attached to: the standard: and head lfii Thasewing machine-is provided. with. a, spool. holder I 4 and the usual thread: controt k5; thread i tension'er t6 and reeiprocatihgrneed-letbar 4513.. The sewing'machi'ne is. also: provided a. projecting bobbinholdingishattl lid fUlfuSE.lIf-. winding the bobbin as disclosed and: ciaiined in Addison Ballard Bradley; Jr., application Serial No. 155,319, filed April" 1l=, 1950. The sewing machine shown in the drawings also includes the usual presser foot bar 19 for aid in guiding the work.

The thread guide and clamping member of the present invention are located at the lower end of the reciprocable needle bar 11. As shown in the drawings, the lower end of the bar I! is provided with a longitudinal opening Ila for receiving a needle 20. This lower end of the bar I! is also provided with a transverse opening I 1b extending from the outer surface of the bar I! to the longitudinal opening Ila. Beneath this transverse opening Ill) and adjacent the lower end of the bar l1, there is provided an annular groove |1c of substantial depth. As shown in Fig. 3, the portion between the opening Ila and the bottom of the groove H is depressed at one point to provide an inwardly projecting section Ild. This inwardly projecting section restricts the needle opening Ila so that a needle having a shank provided with a flat side will be received in the opening Ila in substantially one position only. The needle 20 has such a shank 20m and thus can only be received in the opening Ila with the flat side being toward the transverse opening l'lb. By providing the depressed portion |'|d to restrict the opening Ila, the manufacturing cost can be kept to a minimum as the needle opening I la can first be drilled as an ordinary circular opening and then the portion of the needle bar between the opening Ila and the groove |1c flattened at one point to insure proper positioning of the needle.

The annular groove l'lc normally holds a thread guide 2| which is in the shape of a coil of wire. This thread guide is provided with a substantially circular upper portion 2|a held in the annular groove [10, a downwardly projecting stem portion 2 I b extending beyond the end of the needle bar I! and a guide portion 2|c of larger diameter than the upper portion 2|a and positioned below the bottom end of the needle bar H.

In order to lock the needle 20 and the thread guide 2| in position, there is provided a clamping member 22 that is slidable on the needle bar IT. This clamping member, as shown in Fig. 3, includes a screw portion 22a normally extending into the transverse opening I'm in the needlebar l1 and bearing against the shank 20a of the needle to lock the needle in place. The clamping member 22 normally covers'the annular groove I to lock the thread guide 2| in position on the needle bar. As is shown in Fig. 4, the bottom of the clamping member 22 is cut away at one side, as indicated at 22b, to provide space for the stem portion 2|b of the thread guide 2|. This cut away part of the clamping member also prevents rotation of the thread guide and holds it firmly in place.

When it is necessary to remove the needle 20 from the needle bar H, the screw 22a is loosened and the needle withdrawn from the opening I'Ia. When the thread guide 2| is to be removed from the bar, the screw 22a is again loosened until the inner end thereof is beyond the outer surface of the needle bar and the clamping member moved upwardly along the needle bar until the annular groove H0 is exposed. The circular upper portion 2 a of the thread guide may then be snapped from the groove He and the guide removed from the bar. The thread guide 2| is preferably made of a springy, tough wire shaped as shown in the drawings. The thread is held by the thread guide between adjacent portions of the wire in the guide portion 2|c of the thread guide and from here is directed downwardly through the eye in the needle point.

As can be seen from the above description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the needle, thread guide and clamping member form a compact unit with each part of the unit being readily removable from the needle bar of the sewing machine. The construction of the unit is quite simple but it is sturdy in that the clamping member, needle and thread guide are each locked firmly in place. I

Having described my invention as related to the embodiment set out herein, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims,

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine, a reciprocable needle bar having an opening in one end thereof to receive a needle and an annular groove around said end, the needle bar between said opening and the bottom of the groove being depressed atone point so that said opening will receive in substantially one position only a needle having a flat side, and a removable thread guide comprising a wire coil having a portion received in said groove.

2. In a sewing machine, a reciprocable needle bar having a longitudinal opening in one end thereof to receive a needle, an annular groove adjacent this end and a transverse opening extending into said longitudinal opening, a removable thread guide comprising a wire coil including one portion located in said groove and a guide portion extending beyond said needle bar, and a clamping member slidable on said needle bar and including a clamping screw normally extending into said transverse opening and bearing against said needle to lock it in place, said clamping member normally covering said groove to hold said one portion of the thread guide therein and having a channel through which said guide portion of the thread guide extends.

3. In a sewing'machine, a reciprocable needle bar having a longitudinal opening in one end thereof to receive a needle and a transverse opening extending into said longitudinal opening, a removable thread guide on the needle bar, and a clamping member slidable on the needle bar and including a screw movable into the transverse opening for bearing against the needle and locking it in place, said clamping member normally engaging said thread guide to lock it in place when the screw is in engagement with said needle, the needle bar including an annular groove adjacent the longitudinal needle opening and the thread guide comprising a wire coil having one portion held in the groove.

GEORGE C. SPORNEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

